‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Recap – ‘Saints of Imperfection’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

You know, I’m quickly starting to realize that season two Star Trek: Discovery is going to be a year that is filled to the brim with incredible surprise after incredible surprise. Because over the past couple of weeks, storylines are going in directions that I never expected them to, and the show is finding ways to integrate the best parts of Trek into its storylines in the most imaginative ways possible and for proof, look no further than last night’s episode, ‘Saints of Imperfection’. For this tale, which was initially pitched as a rescue mission for Tilly in the preview, ended up becoming so much more over the course of the hour. 
 
But before we dive too deeply into the fascinating surprises that this episode had to offer, let’s start this recap off by discussing just how Trek this episode turned out to be, because the rescue mission in question was quite the noble storyline to say the least. For the crew rallied behind Stamets’ plan to rescue Tilly and they truly put life and limb on the line to head into the Mycelial Network to save her and it was just inspiring to see the crew come together like this and Pike’s speech on Starfleet being a promise was simply the stuff of legend and well, this decision set the tone for the rest of the episode since everything that came after this grand setup was equally as noble.
 
Take for example what happened within the Mycelial Network. For while Tilly was angry about being transported to this place and wanted nothing more than to get home, she still offered to help May with whatever being was apparently causing all kinds of trouble inside this strange dimension, and once Burnham and Stamets arrived to rescue Tilly, we were treated to quite the reunion. Because the ‘monster’ that May believed was here to ruin her home, turned out to be a resurrected and confused Dr. Culber, who arrived here thanks to an unexpected side effect related to Paul’s ability to connect to the network and once again, it took teamwork and unity to convince May that Culber was no harm to her and her people, he was merely defending himself and it was best that everyone work together to make the impossible, possible, and bring Culber home.  

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​Yet, while those two elements alone could have carried this episode over the course of the hour, this tale had more to offer us, since it brought a little parable revolving around having faith in other people to the table as well. For Section 31 ended up being involved in Discovery’s rescue mission, due to the fact that Spock has become a person of interest at just about every level imaginable in Starfleet, which meant that Burnham and Captain Pike were forced to deal with faces from their past since Captain Georgiou and Lieutenant Tyler found themselves aboard the Discovery once again, and we also learned that Leland is an old friend of Christopher’s, and well…this led to a lot of tension and a lot of distrust amongst everyone because all parties knew that both sides were working toward their own goals when it comes to Lieutenant Spock.
 
Those interactions were critical to the notion the story wanted to explore, because without trust and faith in each other, conflict and infighting took hold. But crisis is a fine place for people to try out new things and with the ship’s safety on the line, everyone finally put a little faith in one another and accomplished wonders, and while this segment of the story was a touch obvious in what it wanted it accomplish, it was nice to see the show speak to unity in every storyline since that’s what Star Trek is all about, and it’s equally awesome to know that we will get to learn and see more about Section 31 in the weeks to come, since Leland and his team are going to be around for a little bit longer…
 
If anything, this particular episode ended on quite the happy note. After all, Tyler has a place again on board the Discovery and that may allow for he and Burnham to reconcile their differences and their budding romance. And more importantly, Dr. Culber is alive and well, and hopefully Paul’s enduring love and belief in Hugh will help him heal and now that it seems the Mycelial story is out of the way, I get the funny feeling the search for Spock is about to resume and it should be fascinating to learn more about why he’s haunted by the Red Angel, and what the tachyon emissions surrounding this mysterious creature mean going forward. Until next time.

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